An Introduction to Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales

Transcription

Grinton Smelt Mill, Swaledale
An Introduction to
Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales
Written for the Dales Countryside Museum
and http://www.mylearning.org/
by
Carol Haynes
First Edition 19th June 2006
©2006
These materials may be used free of charge for educational purposes by schools and individuals. They must not be sold or distributed in any other form.
Introduction:
Reeth - once the capital of lead mining in Swaledale within a scarred landscape. In its heyday, in the
mid-19th century, there were over 1000 miners living in Reeth which, despite its Methodist history, still
boasts five pubs. Now its main industries are tourism and farming. These hills have been mined for
lead since before the arrival of the Romans. Roman lead blocks, marked in Latin, were found near
Hurst, a small village just beyond the crest of the hill. ©2006 Carol Haynes
Lead mining was a major industry in the Northern Pennines from 1650 to 1900 and
has a much longer history, dating back to Roman times.
This Learning Journey aims to provide information and resources for teachers of Key
Stage 2 and 3 children.
Included are:
• a brief introduction to the lead mining and smelting processes observable in
the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales National Park,
• annotated photographs of artefacts collected in the local area (some available
in animated format),
• primary and secondary source materials: written and photographic,
• a video visit to Grinton Smelt Mill,
• a suggested artefact based activity aimed at Key Stage 2,
• a list of other web based sources of information and further reading.
Some of these resources are immediately accessible on the web pages but some larger
files are only available to download. In particular, better quality pictures suitable for
printing and the full video are downloadable as well as an information pack
containing a printable form of the background information.
Page -1-
A brief history: Early Mining
A sunny day in Gunnerside Gill is a favourite for walkers but the landscape gives clues of a much more
industrial past. ©John Morrison, used by permission.
Lead occurs within the rocks of the North East of England because of geological
processes. Uplift and the movement of faults cause the limestone beds to crack.
Mineral rich hot water is injected from deep within the crust and mantle into cracks in
the crustal rocks and in particular the limestone rock beds. As the water cools
minerals are deposited in crystal form and galena (the mineral form of lead ore) is just
one of many minerals to be deposited. Others include calcite, fluorspar, barites and
pyrites.
There is evidence of the use of lead in the Dales dating from the time of the Roman
Emperor Trajan (117-138 AD) in the form of ‘pigs’ of lead (ie. moulded blocks of
lead) marked with the Emperor’s name. Much British lead was transported to Rome to
be used in the water systems, roofing, paint and domestic goods (eg. plates and cups).
Demand for lead increased following the Norman Conquest through to the medieval
period. Land was granted to aristocrats who had supported King William together
with important mineral rights. Extraction was recorded by monastic estates who
shared in the profits. Much of the Yorkshire Dales National Park was under the
control of local monasteries such as the abbeys of Fountains, Rievaulx and Jervaulx
and the priories at Bolton and Bridlington until the dissolution of the monasteries,
under Henry VIII. In 1378 lead from Wensleydale was used to rebuild the gatehouse
of Carlisle Castle. In the fifteenth century lead was exported from Swaledale and
Nidderdale via York to Antwerp, Bordeaux and Danzig.
From c1540, following the break-up of monastic and crown estates, mines were
leased to individuals. Lead was used in warfare, water pipes and glazed windows.
The Dales landscape was transformed by the growth in mining and smelting which
also involved increasing drainage.
Page -2-
The 18th and 19th Centuries
The Old Gang Smelt Mill is now a listed site of importance. The Old Gang Mining Company was a
major employer in the 19th century. ©John Morrison, used by permission.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries lead production reached a peak
and Britain became the main producer of lead in the world. During the 19th century
miners struck ‘bargains’ with landowners so that prospecting for ore was a mutual
benefit. This effectively meant the miners became self employed and had a great
incentive to find viable lead veins and exploit the deposits. Major advances in the
harnessing of water technology in the form of water wheels meant that some degree of
mechanisation was possible but mining in the Dales was always hard manual labour in
very remote areas relying on pick and shovel and the hard work of men, women and
children in dirty and often dangerous situations.
Miners rarely became wealthy. The precarious nature of prospecting meant that
supplements to their income were needed and so most miners and their families also
turned their hand to farming for food and even hand-knitting was used to generate
extra income. The men often knitted on the long walks to and from the levels and
smelting areas so that time was not wasted.
By the turn of the twentieth century the Dales mines could no longer compete with
cheaper imports, particularly from Spain, and most mines closed. The last working
mine in Swaledale finally closed in 1912. Many of the mineworkers moved away
from the Dales in search of work. Some moved to the industrial mill towns but others
emigrated and continued mining in Spain and Pittsburgh, US.
Today the remains of the lead mining industry scar the landscape of most dales to
some degree but they are particularly prominent in Swaledale, Arkengarthdale,
Wensleydale and Wharfedale.
Page -3-
Mining Methods - Bell Pits & Hushes
Former Bell Pits on Grassington Moor. The whole area shows the marks of an industrial past. Note the
non-vegetated areas in the upper right quarter of the picture where lead spoil has poisoned the ground
to further growth. ©John Morrison
The earliest mining process was the digging of bell pits. These appear today as
circular depressions in the ground occurring at intervals along straight lines, but can
often be confused with the natural shake and swallow holes in limestone. Lead ore
usually occurs as vertical veins. Miners identified these veins at the surface in flat
areas and dug a hole to expose the ore. As they dug deeper they reached a limit when
it became difficult to remove the waste by shovel and the walls of the pit became less
stable. They dug vertically down into the rocks opening a small shaft and ultimately a
bell shaped chamber underground, removing waste by use of a hand winch (a jack
roller or windlass) with a bucket (known as a kibble). As they reached the limit of ore
or the limits of practical working they would move along the surface following the
vein of lead and start new bell pits. Spent bell pits were often sealed off with wood
and then back filled to stop sheep falling in but this process has left a dangerous
legacy as the wood has rotted.
Page -4-
Bunton Mine, Gunnerside Gill in Swaledale. The open hillside is covered by the deep scars of hushing.
©John Morrison, used by permission.
Bell pits were little use on steep hillsides and so the method of hushing was used and
continued into the 19th century. Hushes can be seen today as large scarred areas
(usually gullies) on hillsides, with particularly prominent examples visible along the
sides of Gunnerside Gill in Swaledale. The method involved building a dam near the
top of the area to be cleared allowing water to collect from natural streams, rainwater
and diverted water. When there was sufficient water the dam was broken allowing the
water to scour away the topsoil and small boulders exposing veins of lead which
could then be exploited from the surface.
Page -5-
Mining Methods - Levels
A level entrance new Grinton How Smelt
Mill in Swaledale. Note the carefully
constructed dressed stone arch entrance to
the tunnel. The stone lining continues inside
the tunnel. This is just one entrance into an
interconnecting complex of levels. ©2006
Carol Haynes
As miners exhausted the hushes they dug into the hill sides producing levels
(horizontal tunnels) to gain access to the lead veins deeper in the hillside. Level
entrances are still prominent in many valleys, appearing as arched tunnels – often
lined with dressed stone.
Sometimes natural caves were used as an access point to lead veins and then levels
dug within the caves to gain deeper access to the ore – examples of such caves are at
Devis Hole Mine near Grinton Smelt Mill in Swaledale and Dow Cave, near
Kettlewell in Wharfedale.
Within the levels miners usually dug upwards into the lead veins. This meant that
gravity helped to bring the lead ore down to the level below where it could be taken to
the surface. To achieve this, wooden platforms (called stopes) were built ever higher
into the worked out veins and accessed via wooden ladders. Ultimately miners could
be working at great heights on these platforms. Waste rock and other materials (called
deads) had to be removed from the area but to many miners this was a waste of effort
and so large quantities were left on the stopes, a real danger to people exploring the
mines today as the wooden platforms become rotten.
Water was an ever present danger in the levels and shafts. Heavy rain could turn
levels into underground rivers very quickly. Most levels were dug slightly uphill to
allow water to drain away, but the working conditions were always wet and
potentially dangerous.
Levels often had metal track-ways laid for the use of wagons to carry spoil (waste
products) and ore to the surface. These were often pushed by the miners, but in some
mines ponies were used to haul the wagons (the uphill nature of levels helped with the
removal of heavy wagons). Spoil was usually deposited at or near the mine entrance
and picked over by children for ore that can be salvaged. Most mining areas are still
covered by large spoil heaps which remain barren to plant growth because of the
concentrations of lead. Wagons of ore would be pushed from the level to
‘bouseteams’, stone containers where ore was stored before being taken for
processing.
Page -6-
Mining Methods - Shafts
This is a lump of galena - the ore bearing rock
miners were looking for. It is primarily limestone
but contains white crystalline calcite and silvery
metallic lead. ©2006 Carol Haynes
It was not until the latter years that explosives started to be used to speed up the
building of new levels which allowed speculative digs to be started rather than just
following known veins. Over the years the levels and connecting shafts expanded
under the hillsides. Many miles of such passages exist, connecting mines together
underground with entrances as much as 6-8 miles apart on the surface, and even in
neighbouring dales.
Shafts also provided access in areas where the ground was not steep enough to dig
levels and provided a convenient way to raise ore and waste to the surface. Hand
winches were again used to lift materials to the surface but as shafts got deeper this
became impractical as the weight of the rope combined with the material to be lifted
was too great. In such case horse ‘whims’ were used, an ingenious method whereby a
horse (or team of horses) walked in a circle rotating a central post around which the
rope would wind or unwind. None survive today but there are some of the stone bases
where the winding post was planted in a central hole to be seen. To work at even
greater depths water wheels were used to raise and lower the kibbles. Most shafts
have now been filled in to avoid accidents to livestock and walkers.
The depth of a mine was largely restricted by the level of the water table, but during
the 19th century steam pumps were installed to pump out water from levels in some
areas to allow miners to work at greater depths.
Page -7-
Processing Ore – The Dressing Floor
A bucker was used to crush the pure galena to
uniform pea sized chunks. ©2006 Carol
Haynes
Processing the ore was a two stage process – dressing and smelting.
Dressing was the process of sorting out the raw materials (bouse) extracted from the
mine. The miners brought the bouse to the surface. It was stored nearby in stone built
storage hoppers caller bouse teams from where it was ultimately taken to a “dressing
floor” – the area where the sorting took place. Often one dressing floor was shared by
more than one level or mine but it was important not to expend too much energy
moving unprocessed bouse over great distances.
The bouse was sorted by hand by boys (often as young as 10 years old), women and
older men. This involved sorting out the lumps of pure galena, which was separated,
and deads, rock containing no ore, which was discarded on a nearby spoil heap. The
remainder of the material contained some ore but needed to be cleaned up before
smelting by knocking off lumps of with a spalling hammer.
Once a pile of pure galena (ore) was produced the lumps needed to be reduced in size
to about the size of peas. Initially this was done by hand using a heavy flat hammer
called a bucker, but was later a mechanised by the use of crushing wheels (essentially
a giant mangle), powered by water.
Finally the small lumps of ore were sieved in water. This allowed the heavy particles
to settle to the bottom and lighter waste particles to remain at the top to be scraped
away and discarded. Later this was done more efficiently using hotching tubs – a large
tub effectively sieving larger quantities of ore by jiggling the sieve up and down using
a lever. Eventually hotching tubs were mechanised by use of water wheels. The very
fine grains or ore were not lost but gently washed in slow moving water to collect the
“slime” or fine ore while the lighter waste was washed away. Stepped designed
‘running buddles’* were used to make this a more efficient process.
Once the pure ore was reduced to a suitable size it was transported to the nearest
Smelt Mill which served a number of mines in the area.
* Being wooden not many have survived but there is a picture of them in use in
Cumbria.
Page -8-
Processing Ore – The Smelt Mill
The Old Gang Smelt Mill served a number of mines. The Old Gang Mining Company was a large and
important employer. Galena was brought from mines spread all over these hills and some
neighbouring valleys to be smelted. ©John Morrison, used by permission.
The smelting process is essentially very simple. Pellets of galena are heated until they
reach melting point. Because lead has a low melting point any impurities are not
melted and are left as waste. The molten lead can be allowed to drain from the fire
hearth into a collecting pot and then poured into moulds to form blocks of pure lead
metal.
Pigs of lead were produced by pouring the molten led into troughs. Each smelt
mill had its own marks so that the origin of the lead was obvious and to deter
stealing. The larger mills had troughs with their comapny names cast in mirror
writing so that the resulting pig lead would have clearly stencilled lettering.
©2006 Carol Haynes
Page -9-
In practice things are not quite so simple:
•
•
•
To achieve the temperatures necessary (600-800ºC) to melt the lead from the
galena requires a source of fuel. This was originally found by coppicing local
woodland but was eventually supplied by cutting and drying moorland peat
which was in plentiful supply.
A constant stream of air, to aid combustion, was also needed and was provided
initially by the use of hand bellows, but as mechanisation increased the use of
a water wheel to drive huge bellows became common. This of course meant
that water was needed and so mills were built in valleys to find a ready supply
of water and then large scale earthworks produced a dam and reservoir to store
and control the water.
The heated galena gives off poisonous fumes (particularly sulfur dioxide and
also vaporised lead). In early small scale smelting these escaped into the
atmosphere but in large scale mills the fumes needed to be removed
efficiently. Large flues (horizontal chimneys) up to 1km in length were built
up hillsides –usually topped with a vertical chimney. Periodically boys were
send into the flues to scrape condensed lead from the walls to return it for
processing.
Smaller mills used ‘strikers´ to mark pigs of lead with the mill’s
identification. Lead is a soft metal so once the pigs were cooled
they were struck with the company mark with a set of these
hammer-like tools. Each tool has two letters (one on each end of
the head). ©2006 Carol Haynes
Page -10-
Mining Landscape
An artist’s impression of a dales valley during lead production showing the various mining methods
and the processing areas. ©2000 YDNP
The diagram is a reconstruction of a mining landscape. It illustrates the various areas
of a mining landscape and how they were interconnected.
Note the vertical nature of the lead veins, and how the miners used stopes to cut
upwards and downwards into the veins. The stopes are accessed via levels and shafts
from the surface (bottom left).
The worked out stope (bottom right) shows the danger of entering mines today with
wooden platforms within the stope holding piles of deads.
The shallow shaft mounds shown are also known as bell pits.
Page -11-
A Miner’s Life
Mr Thomas Hall
Lead Miner (retired)
West Burton, Wensleydale.
Thomas Hall was born in Derbeyshire but moved
to Yorkshire early in life and spent most of his
working life as a miner.
Photograph by J.B. Smithson,
Wensleydale Studios, Leyburn, (~1890).
“A fine study, one of the few nineteenth century
photographs of a Yorkshire lead miner” (Robert
T. Clough, The Lead Smelting Mills of the
Yorkshire Dales)
Copyright status unknown.
Most mining families had generations of mining history but many had family ties in
other parts of the country from as far away as Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall.
Consequently the mining communities were very mixed and, as in the gold rush of the
wild west, attracted ‘characters’. Mining for most was a form of “hunting” and often a
matter of chance when looking for veins of lead.
Most miners were self employed or worked together as private units. They struck
bargains with landowners (later with mining companies) and were paid by the amount
of ore they produced.
Due to the locations of the mines and smelt mills many miners lived in ‘mine shops’
during the week and returned home only at weekends, and many single miners lived
permanently in these shops. The tradition miner’s cottage was stone built, with a
single storey and thatched roof. Sometimes the cottages had a second storey and were
grouped into rows of 2 or more. In the later years second storeys were added with
stone roofs to the old cottages. At weekends the small cottages could become very
crowded with 10-12 people living in a small space and taking turns to sleep in the bed.
Page -12-
From “The Lead Smelting Mills of the Yorkshire Dales” ©1962 R.T. Clough
Page -13-
A Life of Hard Work
Mining families worked hard and had a precarious existence as they were only paid
by the amount of ore produced. If a vein ran out it was not uncommon for men to
work for weeks with no profit. Boys were sent to work at an early age (usually around
10 years) to the ‘washings’ where they worked for about eightpence (approx. 3p) per
day. They worked under often cruel conditions shovelling bouse from the crushing
rollers. Some children also worked down the mines (it is recorded that one father used
to carry his son down 400 feet of ladder on his back at Duke Shaft, Grassington
Moor).
By the age of 17 or 18 boys became part of the gang working for annual or half-yearly
bargains. They would work with a skilled miner who expected them to do all the hard
work. By the 19th century men’s wages varied from 10-18 shillings per week (50-90
pence) with smelters earning the most.
Many women worked on the surface ‘buckering the ore’ or minding the ‘hotching
tubs’ (the agitation tubs to sieve out the ore from waste). In the 17th century it is
recorded that women earned as little at 1s 2d per week (approximately 6p) plus two
flannel petticoats per year. Later in the 19th century they earned a shilling a day (5p)
for 10 hours of work and were provided with woollen skirts. One old lady was known
to take her turn at the hotching tubs and knockstone at the age of 96 !
Conditions underground were grim. It was always wet and cold but the biggest
problems were ‘bad air’ and miner’s dust which caused many lung problems
(including fatal infections and TB). Mines used ventilation machines to freshen the air
in the levels but the introduction of dynamite in the mid nineteenth century added the
new hazard of poisonous fumes. The average lifespan of a miner in 1860 was about
45 years.
Income levels were so poor and erratic that most families also maintained a
smallholding with a few cattle and pigs and poultry providing food and extra income.
Women would also make their own butter and cheese. Meat was cured with salt.
Knitting was also a widespread method of making a little income as well as clothes.
Men, women and children knitted at every opportunity – even walking to work across
the fells was to the sound of clicking needles. Nothing was wasted – miners’ tools
were often made with recycled materials (look at the drill handle in the image), and
old cloth was used to make mats to guard against the cold of the stone floors (can you
see what the rug is made of in the image?).
Detail of a ‘proddy rug´. Rough
sacking had loops of old rags
poked through. In this case the old
rags are socks! ©2006 Carol
Haynes
Page -14-
A brine pot - used for curing pork. The
bowl was filled with brine solution and the
meat left to soak until the salt was
absorbed. Meat was then coated in salt
and wrapped to be stored. ©2006 Carol
Haynes
A hand drill, approximately 60cm in length with a wooden handle.
The handle is recyled from a broken hammer. ©2006 Carol
Haynes
A hand churn for making butter. Turning the handle for a
couple of hours would be a job for the children. ©2006
Carol Haynes
Page -15-
Time for Fun and Games
A model of a woman knitting with a
knitting stick at the Dales Countryside
Museum. ©2006 Carol Haynes
Life wasn’t all hardship for mining families. In the winter hunting with hounds was a
popular pastime. Guiding shooting parties around the moors in season was always an
easy and popular way for miners to earn some extra money.
Local games included ‘knur and spell’. Quoits was also (and remains) a popular
village game in the Dales.
Music was an important part of life. Singing was popular in the home and the public
house and there were, as now, strong connections with miners’ brass bands. There are
still three local bands in Swaledale (Muker and Reeth) and Wensleydale (Hawes) as
well as in other dales in the area.
There were produce shows and fairs in the villages run by the mining families as a
way of both socialising and also making a little extra money.
Probably the most popular pastime for the men was in the public houses where they
could gather to tell tales, sing and enjoy a beer. Miners were highly superstitious,
believing in horrors such as gnomes, boggles and boggarts and doubtless many tall
tales were told after a few drinks.
Page -16-
A variety of knitting sticks. These were worn in
the belt. One of the needles (locally called
wires) was held in the top of the stick, the
other in the left hand. This meant that knitting
could be done whilst keeping a hand free.
Everyone in the family knitted as much as
possible to supplement the family income. In
the evenings families would play knitting
games while they sat around the fire. ©2006
Carol Haynes
Page -17-
The end of an era
On a summer´s day the Blakethwaite Mill in Gunnerside Gill is a popular picnic spot for walkers. The
arched building is the old peat store (the arches allowing a draft to help dry the peat). High on the far
hill can be seen the small opening of a small lime kiln. A collapsed bridge over the gill has now been
replaced by a simple slab of limestone. The collapsed building in the centre of the picture was the mill.
Since this photograph some consolidation of the structures has been carried out by the National Park this has entailed bringing loads of materials by helicopter. The original miners had no such luxury and
had a long 3 mile walk each day to work (and maybe a mile or two underground in the nearby levels).
The moving of the smelted lead from such a remote location must have been back-breaking work.
©Carol Haynes
The mining industry started to suffer in the mid 19th century with falling prices as
cheaper lead was imported from overseas and by 1880 the industry was in terminal
decline. This lead to poverty and ultimately familes had to move away from the Dales.
Some moved to the cotton towns of Lancashire whilst others looked for mining work
in the coal fields of Durham, Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Others
emigrated to continue mining in America and other parts of Europe. Miners’ cottages
were left empty and a silence fell on once boisterous villages. The silence wasn’t
really disturbed until the advent of tourism with the formation of the National Park.
The result of this was that mines were left as they were when the miners finished
working, with tools and machinery left as if they had just left a shift and would return
the next day. Gradually the buildings fell into disrepair and farmers and landowners
started to reclaim the stone to build and repair barns and walls. Anything that could be
was sold for a profit, e.g. the furnace arches from the Old Gang Smelt Mills were sold
in 1933 for £25 to Muker Chapel and buildings were sold to builders to reclaim
dressed stone.
Page -18-
Some mines remained open until 1912 but the miners and companies were fighting a
losing battle and ultimately they had to close.
In recent years some the materials that the miners considered waste (fluorspar and
barites) have become useful in their own right and some spoil heaps have been picked
over to remove useful products and the left over waste used to repair eroded footpath
surfaces.
Lead mining has left a lasting mark on the landscape which visitors view with a
romantic nostalgia as they stroll past ruined buildings, workings and spoil heaps on
summer days. We should not forget the harsh realities of life for men, women and
children who tramped across the fells in all weathers to work in damp, dark and
extremely dangerous conditions.
Page -19-
Grinton Smelt Mill - A Case Study
Grinton How Smelt Mill (centre) and the Peat Store (left) at the head of Cogden Beck - a stream
dammed further upstream to run the water wheel in the mill which was used to drive the hearth
bellows. ©2006 Carol Haynes
Grinton How Mill is the best preserved Smelt Mill in the Yorkshire Dales National
Park.
To accompany this case study there is a short video available to download which
gives an overview of the buildings and the surrounding mining area, including a
chance to see hushes and levels. (See resources to download)
There have been alterations and damage to the buildings over the last century. Stone
has been removed from the smelting hearths and in the centre of the building a sheep
dip was installed by local farmers who used the derelict building for other purposes.
In 1973 the buildings and flue were listed as “Buildings of Special Architectural or
Historical Interest” to protect them from further deliberate damage or alteration and in
1975 they were designated a ‘scheduled ancient monument’ which attracted funding
for some restoration work, including (in 1987) a new roof.
Within the building are the remains of two hearths which have square holes (tuyère
holes) to allow air from massive bellows to support combustion and large flue exits to
allow fumes to escape.
A composite of 4 photographs. This is
Grinton How Mill Smelting hearth. The
hole at floor level is the ‘tuyere´ hole
where air was pumped into the hearth
from bellows, the upper hole is the exit to
the flue where fumes from the smelting
process were drawn away. ©2006 Carol
Haynes
Page -20-
In the other half of the building there are the remains (4.2m above the ground) of a
wooden channel which supplied water to drive a large water wheel (probably about
6m in diameter) which is unfortunately no longer present. Present however, is the
massive timber bellows frame (at least 4m high) which housed enormous bellows
(unfortunately no longer there).
The Peat Store (on the left) stored fuel to use in the hearths. To dry out the peat quickly after cutting it
from the moorland the store was heated by the fumes from the hearth as the flue was built along the
back wall of the building. Note the discoloration of the lower wall due to the heating and lead fumes.
The flue stretches for nearly 1 km up the hillside and would have had a chimney at the top when in use.
©2006 Carol Haynes
The rear of the smelt mill clearly shows the arched flue exit from the building where fumes were drawn
up the hill. The flue walls were periodically scraped by boys to remove condensed lead and return it to
the smelting hearth. The square hole on the upper right is where the water entered the building to drive
the water wheel. Water was carried by wooden channels (called leats) from the dam further upstream.
Angles were carefully calculated to ensure there was a constant gravity fed water supply at roof level.
©2006 Carol Haynes
For a complete description of the Mill buildings and their known history The Northern
Mine Research Society monograph 51 is recommended (see Further Sources of
Information page).
Page -21-
Grinton Smelt Mill – Diagrams
A breakaway view of the smelt mill.
You can see the relationship between
the hearths and flue system with the
escaping toxic gases. The launder
(water chute) provides water to drive
the wheel and bellows providing
oxygen to maintain high hearth
temperatures. ©YDNP (from
interpretation board located in the
Mill)
The first diagram shows a cutaway model of the smelt mill itself. Note the hearth on
the left (photo on previous page) with the large bellows in the back room driven by
the waterwheel. The three arches of the hearths have been removed – many old Dales
buildings were removed completely to provide stone for new buildings – and the
central hearth replaced by a sheep dip (see diagram 2). The second diagram shows the
current floor plan of the mill building.
©Northern Mine Research Society
Page -22-
The final images give an idea of how the original buildings may have looked. The
map dates from 1891 and clearly shows the relationship between the buildings and the
flue and also shows the mill pond and dam and the extent of the flue and chimney.
1891 map of Grinton Smelt Mill
and the surrounding buildings
and area. Note the mill pond and
dam with two sluice gates (SL):
the one on the left allowed for
draining and to prevent
overflow, the other provided
water to the wheel via the
wooden leats. The ‘Smithy´
building was demolished but the
foundations can still be seen.
Note also to the NE Sharrow
Hill Quarry and the limekilns.
The quarry would have provided
stone for the building work and
the limekilns would have
provided lime for producing
mortar. As a byproduct lime
would have been supplied to
local farms for fertilizing and
improving their fields.
©Northern Mine Research
Society.
It is also worth noting on the map the ‘old shafts’ and also the quarries and limekilns
(particularly on Sharrow Hill to the NE which can be clearly seen in the video) which
provided the raw materials for the construction of these buildings and other local
buildings.
The final image is an artist’s impression of the layout of the original buildings and
earth works.
An artist’s impression of the area during its working
period. Notice the dam which provided water to the mill
wheel via the wooden leats (the raised wooden troughs
leading from the upper sluice to the main building) in order
to drive the bellows. The large building near the dam is an
old blacksmith forge which has now been demolished and
removed. ©YDNP (from interpretation board located in the
Mill)
Page -23-
Grinton Smelt Mill – Come and See
Much can be seen in the field around Grinton Smelt Mill. The following is a short
(4km) walk that takes in the Smelt Mill and buildings and also the nearest hush and
level entrances. The numbers refer to the map (shift click on the image to open it in a
separate window).
Route Map for walk to
Grinton Mill (5) and
Ridley Hush (7)
Important Safety Note: This is mostly on good tracks but there are some steep and
slippery sections. The hushes are full of spoil heaps which may yield some galena if
you look hard enough, but they can be a bit unstable underfoot. Under no
circumstances should levels be entered due to potential internal shafts and unstable
stone work.
Page -24-
Directions to Grinton can be found here with an OS Map of the area here.
1. Park in the small parking area at the road junction.
2. Cross the road and follow the path keeping the barn on your left.
3. Follow the wall and stream until you come to a wooden fence and style on the
right. Cross the style and follow Cogden Beck south. Note the level entrance
on the left. This was not a mining level but built purely for drainage for the
other mine workings.
4. When you come to the road bridge exit the beckside path up the hill and cross
the road, beside the bridge rejoin the path and follow the beck again.
5. The smelt mill comes into view.
6. Retrace your steps a little and then turn SW (left) into a valley and onto an
obvious track.
7. As you make your way along the beck you will need to cross a number of
times to avoid boggy ground. Notice the spoil waste lying on the ground. As
you approach 7 you will see large spoil heaps (on the video) loom up in front
of you. Go to the right of the spoil heaps and shortly you come to the level
entrance.
8. Follow the obvious track into open moorland and within 200-300m you will
meet the road.
9. Turn right to return to the starting point.
Page -25-
Suggested Activities
This page currently contains one complete activity and some suggestions as starters
for more. They can be downloaded from here.
Activity 1 History Detectives.
This involves looking at objects and describing what can be seen and deduced about
them, their age and their use. This is followed by use of census materials to identify
the owner of the artefacts.
Activity 2 Child Labour (starter ideas)
Considering the effects of child labour in Victorian times.
Activity 3 Limestone Weathering and Mineralisation (experiments)
Page -26-
Resources to Download
1) A guided walk video of Grinton How Smelt Mill and the surrounding mining area.
This is available in a number of formats:
•
•
•
•
•
WindowsMedia Video file (4.7Mb). This requires Windows Media Player to
play. It is in watchable format but not high quality to reduce the download
size. Download video here*.
QuickTime Movie (8Mb). Slightly better quality than the WMV above but
requires the Apple QuickTime player. Download video here*.
QuickTime Movie (53.7Mb). Much better quality version but a larger
download. Require QuickTime player. Download video here*.
Coming soon … a DVD quality version which you can download and burn to
a DVD disc and then view on any DVD player or computer with a DVD drive.
A QuickTime movie panorama, with interactive descriptive text (1Mb) of the
Grinton Smelt Mills and surrounding moorland. Download here*.
2) Various animations of museum artefacts. All of these require Apple QuickTime
6.5 or later to view them. To view the animation, double-click on the movie file
once you have downloaded it and then click and hold down the mouse button to
rotate images.
•
•
Backcan* (544Kb) – Farmers used these to collect milk from cows grazing in
their fields. Multiple trips were required to carry the heavy loads down to the
farm for storage.
Galena* (449Kb) - A lump of galena which you can rotate through 360º.
(More of these artefacts will be added in the future – there are two unedited
movies of a Butter Bowl and a Bucker, both 1.8Mb)
3) Image packs in PDF format suitable for printing and laminating of museum
artefacts and lead mining location photographs:
• Domestic (12.6Mb)
• Mining (725Kb)
• Farming (2.1Mb)
4) A fully illustrated PDF version (10.7Mb) of the text of this learning journey.
* Download the files to your local hard disc or network by right clicking (Windows)
on the link and using “Save Target As …” or “Save Link As …” depending on your
browser.
Page -27-
Further Sources of Information
Published materials:
YDNP Education File: Dales Countryside Museum - MINES Found in the Ground
Lead Mining (booklet), Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorebridge House,
Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EE
John Morrison: Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales, Dalesman ISBN 185568138-2
Lynn Willies: Lead and Leadmining, Shire Publications, ISBN 0-85263-596-6
Tyson, Spensley & White: British Mining No. 51 The Grinton Mines, NMRS, ISBN
0-901450-42-1
Robert T. Clough: The Lead Smelting Mills of the Yorkshire Dales and Northern
Pennines, published by the author in 1962 in 2 limited editions.
Robert White: The Yorkshire Dales, A Landscape Through Time, Great Northern
Books, ISBN 0-9539740-3-0
Arthur Raistrick & Arthur Roberts: Life and Work of the Northern Lead Miner,
Beamish, ISBN 0-86299-826-3
Arthur Raistrick, Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales, Dalesman, ISBN 0-85206-1714
A number of the books above are out of print. A good source to find second hand
copies is via the Advanced Book Exchange website which links second hand book
sellers’ catalogues into one place from all over the world and offers an easy
centralised ordering process.
Web based materials:
Northern Mine Research Society
Out of Oblivion: A landscape through time (Lead)
The article “Mystery Photograph” in the Upper Wenselydale Newsletter (Issue 86)
(PDF file)
The Arthur Raistrick Collection at Bradford University
Oxford Archaeology Lead Mining Page (refers to mines in Cumbria)
Page -28-
National Curriculum Learning Objectives
The materials presented in this learning journey can go some way to encouraging
participation in the following learning objectives. Some are addressed directly through
activities, others can be addressed by using the materials as a resource or case study.
KS3 / Geography
Unit 13 Limestone Landscapes of England
- Mineralisation has been an important aspect of the past economic life
of Massive Limestone country.
- Learning journey provides resources in the form of photographs and
video of the Dales Landscape and some clues to present and past use of
the land.
Unit 22 Mining on the Internet
- provides resources to inform discussion for this unit
KS2 / History
Unit 11 What was it like for children in Victorian Britain?
- What was life like for poor children?
Unit 12 How did life change in our locality in Victorian Times?
- use of census materials together with museum artefacts.
KS3 / History
Unit 11 Industrial Changes
- The lead industry is a good case-study example of 19th century
industrialisation
Unit 14 The British Empire
- Lead was an important example of overseas trade
KS2 Citizenship
Unit 7 “That’s not fair”
- Considering the different roles and responsibilities of children in the
past – child labour.
KS3 Citizenship through History – particularly:
3a use their imagination to consider other people’s experiences and be able to think
about, express and explain views that are not their own
Britain 1750–1900 10 A study of how expansion of trade and colonisation,
industrialisation and political changes affected the United Kingdom, including the
local area.
Page -29-
Generic Learning Outcomes
The materials and activities presented make it possible to encourage the following
GLOs:
Knowledge and Understanding
Knowing what or about something
Learning facts or information
Making sense of something
Skills
Intellectual skills
Communication skills
Attitudes and Values
Feelings
Perceptions
Opinions or attitudes towards other people
Empathy
Enjoyment, inspiration, creativity
Being surprised
Being inspired
Activity, behaviour, progression
What people do
Page -30-

An Introduction to Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales

Transcription

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